Thread cutting mechanism



Aug 11, 1953 F. c. MQSTERTZ THREAD CUTTING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet -1 Filed May 11, 1951 INVENTOR.

FRANZ- C. MOSTER'TZ. 52%

ATTORNEY.

1953 F. c. MOSTERTZ ,3

THREAD CUTTING MECHANISM Filed May 11, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 79a 55 87a M83 E 9 5% 43 7i 1 a 72 YLl/ l w I 80 J E H 74' if l 7;

FIG. 2.

INVENTOR. FRANZ C. MOSTE-RTZ- THREAD CUTTING MECHANISM Filed May 11, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. FRANZ 'C. MO$TEJ1TZ BY Patented Aug. 11, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THREAD CUTTING MECHANISM- Franz C. Mostertz, Philadelphia, Pa.

ApplicationMayll, 1951, Serial-No. 225,880

7 Claims.

This; invention relates to improvements in loom,

construction, and more particularly to looms of the, narrow fabric type employed for the weaving. of ribbons, tapes and similar fabrics. An

example of the type of loom to which the present zine; in which a plurality of quills are held and fromrwhich quillsare successively delivered into the shuttle upon the depletion of. the thread on the preceding quillin theshuttle, the empty quill being ejected fromthe shuttle on insertion of the filled quill.- The present invention has reference to;cutting-means' by which any remaining thread end'appearing on-the quill about to be replaced will be severed; and also to cutting means by which weft-thread ends appearingin the fabric and'dependent'therefrom, shallbe cut away.

When: the nearly-emptied quill carried by the shuttle is moved by the shuttle to the position where a freshquill isto-be insertedand the empty quillis to be ejected, it is desirable that the small amount of thread then remaining on the shuttle be; severed between. the quill and the shed, so that any small end'remaining on the quill will be free to descend with the quill out of the tail,- and more=particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the

shuttle. For this: purpose; it'isan object of the present invention to provide a cutting means operative adjacent tosthershuttle and at" one end of the-trajectory ofmovement of the shuttle, and

by, which. the thread; extending then between; the quill in the-shuttle and the-shed; will be cut ofizatthe shuttle.

1 When the-thread. is sosevered; an end-thereof will project from the fabric-edgeand' when the freshquill is inserted in the shuttle it will have its thread-inserted as weftin the fabric, and such threadwill also-result in anendprojecting from theedge'ofi the fabric and situated adjacent to that. which was carried by the previous quill.

Thus; the fabric'in: progressing to the take-up- The: present: invention; therefore, has for its primary object the: provision of thread cutting.

meansby which thread-ends are cutat the re.-

quired points in the operation of the machine during the weaving operation.

The foregoing objects, as well as additional objectsand: advantages of the invention, will be readily apparent in thecourse of the followingdetailed'description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, and.

wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of those partsof a narrowfabric loom which embody the featuresof. thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. I, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a view from below, of the cutting.

means whichsevers the thread adjacent to the shuttle at oneend ofthe trajectory of movement of theshuttle;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken on the line- 44 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of. the,

Fig. 5 isa-sectional-view of apart of the structure' shown-in Fig. 4, showingthe cutter in operativeor cutting position; and

Fig. 6 is asectional View, taken on the line lie-6' of Fig. 2;.looking; in the direction of the arrows.

Referringinow to the-drawings in'greater deinvention is shown'as applied to a narrow fabric loomhaving a frame, a portion of'which is shown and well known, the shuttle I6 is reciprocated transversely-with respect to the batten ll'aswell as longitudinally with respect to the warpthreads, since the shuttle is supported on the batten H. with respect to the batten i l is effected by means I, of, driving gears or other; means commonly.- em ployed in the construction of looms of this general character; not described in detail. herein sincethe same form nopart ofthe present invention.

In the loomof the present construction, it is intended-that-;a plurality of quills 2i) beretained-in stacked relationship in a; magazine [9 slightly above theshuttle l6.so as;to permitxthe feeding of a; freshquill into the shuttle when the shuttle is at=the end-of. its trajectory, orsubstantially at" The reciprocation of the shuttle. [6'

the position shown in Fig. 1 and when the quill then in the shuttle is depleted or very nearly depleted of its thread. The construction and mode of operation of the quill-magazine and the elements cooperating therewith is fully shown and described in the before-mentioned Griefen and Mostertz application and will, therefore, not be described in detail herein. It is sufficient to herein state that when the shuttle l6, carrying a depleted or nearly-depleted quill, reaches the position substantially shown in Fig. 1, a fresh quill will be forced down out of the magazine l9 and into the shuttle l6, and said quill, by its entry into the shuttle, forcing the empty quill out of the shuttle.

The empty quill that is so forced out of the shuttle, usually has a small amount of thread on it and it is desirable that this thread, shown at 2| in Fig. 1, be severed at the shuttle and at a point between the shed and the quill then in the shuttle. For this severing operation, a cutting device, shown more clearly in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, is provided and will be presently described.

The means for inserting the. fresh quills into the shuttle includes a hammer-supporting yoke 22 pivotally mounted on the loom frame between upright bearing supports 23 on a shaft 24 and is normally urged to elevated inoperative position by means of a spring 25. The forward end of the yoke member 22 is formed as a hammer 26 adapted to drive a fresh quill into the shuttle l6 upon indication of Weft exhaustion. A pair of transferring arms 2'! is fixed to a rocker shaft 28 mounted on a suitable support 29. Rocker shaft 28 is actuated upon indication of weft exhaustion, to move the transferring arms 21 from quilltransferring position above the shuttle to quillreceiving position at the bottom of the magazine l9. For this purpose a cam lever 39, actuated by suitable cam means, not shown, is connected b means of linkage, including the link 3|, to the rocker shaft 28.

When the shuttle reaches the position shown in Fig. 1 and is holding a quill containing an exhausted or nearly exhausted weft, the mechanism just described is operative to insert a fresh quill in the shuttle, which quill will act to force the then-exhausted quill out of the shuttle. Before the fresh quill is inserted in the shuttle it is desirable that the weft thread 2| extending between the shed and the quill then in the shuttle, be severed. Referring to Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, it will be noted that a supporting plate is mounted on the frame. Slidably secured to the under side of the plate 35 is a slide 36, provided with the slots 31 guided by the pins or screws 38, permitting the slide to have a limited sliding movement as defined by the slots Bl. The elements shown at 99 are actuating fingers for moving thread tensioning guides to position for effecting automatic threading of the shuttle. These fingers 90 are also moved by the plate 35. The slide 39 is pivotally connected at 39 to one end of a link 49 which has a clevis 4| at its opposite end pivotally connecting that end of the link 40 to the solenoid plunger 42 of a solenoid 43. The slide 36 is provided with an extended forward end 44 having a slot 45 in which the lower end of a knife-bar 46 is located. Said knifebar 46 is pivoted at 4! in a slot 48 provided in the end of the plate 35, and the knife-bar carries a cutting blade 49 adapted to sever the weft thread 2| against the end of the shuttle IS. The lower end of the knife-bar 46 is attached to one end of a spring 59 which has its opposite end attached at 5| to the slide 36. The spring 50 is unstressed so that the normal position of the knife is that shown in Fig. 4.

When the shuttle reaches the position shown in Fig. 1 and is in readiness to receive a fresh quill, the solenoid 43 will be energized by closure of a suitably placed and operated switch and will draw its plunger 42 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 4, so that the link 49 and the slide 36 attached thereto, will be drawn in the same direction, and such movement of these parts will cause the knifebar 46 to be swung on its pivot 41, to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5, to thereby bring the cutting edge of the blade 49 into contact with the thread 2| where it emerges from the shuttle, and thereby severs the thread. The pivotal movement of the knife-bar 46 is such as to impart an arcuate swing to its blade 49 to thereby enable the blade to positively sever the thread 2| despite the fact that the thread may in some instances be located at slightly different positions with respect to the cutting blade.

The end of the thread 2| thus severed will dangle or project from the edge of the woven fabric 55, said thread end being shown at 2|a in Fig. 1. When a fresh quill is inserted in the shuttle l6 and the shuttle moves across the shed and inserts the first weft thread from the new quill, said first weft thread will have a dangling end shown at 59 in Fig. 1, such weft thread being located. adjacent to that having the end 2|a. It is now desirable to cut off the thread ends 2| a and 55, and the mechanism for severing these ends will now be described.

Pivotall mounted at 51 on a lug 58 secured to and extending from the frame If) is a lever 59 which has its upper end pivotally attached at 60 to the solenoid plunger 42. At the lower end of the lever 59 is an ofi-set portion 6| operative against a lever 62 pivoted at 63 in a bracket 84 on a lower portion of the frame. The normal position of the lever 62 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the normal position of the lever 59 is shown in full lines in that figure. When the solenoid 43 is energized, the connection of the lever 59 with the solenoid plunger 42 will cause the lever 59 to be swung on its pivot 51 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the offset end SI of the lever 59 will during such swing exert pressure against the lever 62 to swing said lever on its pivot 63 toward the left in Fig. 2 to compress the spring 64 normally tending to urge the lever 62 toward the right.

The upper end of the lever 62 is in the form of a bracket 65 having a spindle 65 on which a gear 6? is rotatably mounted. Said gear 51 meshes with a pinion gear 68 which is adapted, when the lever 92 is swung to the left by the lever 59, to be brought into mesh with a gear 69 secured on the shaft T9 of the take-up roll 'H on which the woven fabric 55 is wound. Attached to the gear 61 is a switch-actuating finger 12 which normally occupies the inoperative position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and is held in such position by means of the coil spring 13, attached at one end to the gear 61 and at its other end to the lever 92. When the gear 61 is rotated for a part of a revolution by means of the gears 68 and 69, the arm 12 will be swung down to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 and brought into contact with the switch button M to thereby depress the same and close the switch 15, thus closing circuit through the wiring 95 shown in Fig. 2, to a solenoid 16 which has a plunger 11 connected to one end of a. sheathed cable control 18a that has its other'end attached at 19a to the pivotal. blade. 80a of. a; scissor-like cutter. Said movable;

blade 80a cooperates with a fixed blade Ma sercuredon the'bracket 82. The blades 80a and 81a are held normally in-open' position, by meansof the spring. 83aso that by movement of the fabric.

and: the thread ends willbe cut off close. to the edge of the fabric 55.

When the lever:62 is-swun'gto the left in Fig; 2 by pressure of the lever 59, lever 62. is retained in such. position for a period of time sufficient to enable the gear 6.! to be rotated for the required extent to cause its switch-operating finger 12 toclose the switch '55. The lever 62 is retained in-its' position to the left for such required period.

of time, by means of'a leaf spring 78 having one end fastened to the frame It! by screws 98 and provided near its free end with a tooth 19 behind which the lever 62 engages. The spring 14-thus constitutes a latch for holding the lever 62 toward the left, said lever, when so held, maintaining the pinion 68in mesh with the gear 69 and thus caus ing thegear 6'! to be slowly rotated and to an ex tent sufiicient to cause the switch-operating finger'l2 to close switch 15. When the solenoid i6 is energized and exerts a pull on its plunger 11, the cutting blade 80a will be moved to cut the threads Zia and 46 and as the plunger continues its downward. movement, an. arm 80, secured to and extending from the plunger H, will exert a downward pressure upon a pin Bl extending laterally from a pivoted lever 82 to cause said lever to swing on its pivot 83 in the bracket 84 extending from the frame Ill.

The lever 82 has its upper end portion extendingacross the spring 18 near the free end of the spring, and when the lever 82 is pivotally moved by the arm 80, the lever 82 will flex the spring 18 to an extent necessary to move the tooth 19 out of the path of the lever 62, causing the spring 64 to swing the lever 62 to the right and to the dotted line position of Fig. 2. This movement of the lever 62 will move the pinion 68 out of mesh with the gear 59, and the spring 13 will then rotate the gear 51 in a counterclockwise direction to bring the switch-operating finger 12 away from the switch button M or to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2.

It will be noted that the cutting off of the threads 2 la and 56 occurs at a point remote from the point at which the thread 2! is cut by the cutter 49 despite the fact that the solenoid 43 is the element which controls the operation of the two cutting devices. The delay between the cutting off of the thread 2! and the severance of the threads Zia and 56 is caused by the fact that the take-up roll rotates at a relatively slow speed and the closure of the switch 15 causing operation of the cutter blade 80, takes place only after the fabric has been moved for a considerable distance from the shed. This enables the cutting off of the threads Zla and 56 to take place remote from the shed and well out of the path of movement of the batten and shuttle carried thereby.

From the foregoing, the operation of the improved thread-cutting means will be readily apparent. When a depleted or nearly depleted quill is carried by the shuttle to the point at which a new quill is to be inserted, the Weft thread extending from the fabric to the quill is out 01f by the cutter blade 49 operated in the P thread projecting as indicated at 56.

manner described. The thread. end Zla is the result. The fresh quill is then inserted in the shuttle which thereupon. lays its weft thread in place in the shed, leaving a free endv of the By energizing of the solenoid t3, lever 59 is swung in a manner to cause the same to move lever 62 to. the left and cause gears El, 63 and. 69 to be placed in mesh and gear 6? rotated to anextent to cause its finger '12 to close switch '55. Threads 240, and 56 have now been carried along by the fabric to a point where the same enter between.

the cutting blades 39a and em, and when the switch 75 is closed and the solenoid I6 is energized, the cutter blade etc is closed to cut ofi the threads. Following this cutting operation, descent of the solenoid plunger ll causes arm 30 to swing the lever 82 in a manner to cause the lever 82 to flex spring i8 and release the lever 62 which swings back, or to the right, under pressure of the spring i i, thus moving pinion 6'! out of mesh with gear 69 and causing spring 13' to restore the switch-operating finger 2 to its in-- operative position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Since certain modifications may be made in the device of the present invention without departfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing specification and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In a loom having a reciprocating shuttle carrying a quill and having means for inserting successive quills into the shuttle and ejecting depleted quills, a slide supported adjacent to the shuttle at one end of the path of movement of the shuttle, a pivoted cutter blade, a resilient connection between said blade and the slide whereby the blade will be swung toward and will resiliently contact with the shuttle and sever a thread extending from' the quill in the shuttle toward the shed; and a solenoid for moving the slide in one direction to bring said cutter blade toward the shuttle to sever said thread.

2. In a loom having a reciprocating shuttle carrying a quill and havin means for inserting successive quills into the shuttle and ejecting depleted quills, a take-up roll on which woven fabric is wound, a cutting device for severing thread-ends projecting from the fabric on its way to the take-up roll, said cutting device including a fixed blade and a movable blade, a solenoid for closing the movable blade, a switch for controlling the energizing of the solenoid, and means for operating said switch at a predetermined time, said means including gearing driven by the shaft of the take-up roll, and means for placing said gearing into or out of mesh.

3. In a loom, a take-up roll for the woven fabric, a gear carried on the shaft of said roll, a pivoted lever adapted to be moved to or from said gear, gearing carried by said lever and adapted to be meshed with the gear on the rollshaft, a solenoid for causing swinging the lever and the gearing carried thereby toward the takeup roll to bring the gearing into mesh with the gear on the roll-shaft, switch-operating means controlled by the gearing, a switch adapted to be closed by said switch-operating means when the gearing is driven by the gear on the rollshaft, a solenoid, an electrical circuit connected to the solenoid and controlled by the switch whereby closing of the switch will energize the solenoid, a cutter for severing thread ends projecting from the fabric while said fabric is moved toward the take-up roll, a connection between the solenoid and the cutter whereby said cutter will be operated upon energizing of the solenoid, means controlled by the solenoid for bringing the gearing out of mesh with the roll-shaft gear after the cutter has operated, and means for causing opening of the switch when the gearing is unmeshed from the roll-shaft gear.

4. In a loom having a reciprocating shuttle carrying a quill and having means for inserting successive quills into the shuttle and ejecting depleted quills, a pivoted knife operative against the shuttle for severing a thread extending from a quill in the shuttle, means including a solenoid for swinging said knife to cutting position, means for cutting 01f a thread-end produced in the fabric by the cutting of the thread at the shuttle, said cutting means including movable and fixed blades, a solenoid for causing cutting operation of the movable blade at a predetermined time after the severance of the thread at the shuttle, the operation of said last-mentioned cutting means being controlled by the closing of the circuit to the solenoid which causes cutting operation of the knife.

5. In a loom having a reciprocating shuttle carrying a quill and having means for inserting successive quills into the shuttle and ejecting depleted quills, a movable knife operative against the surface of the shuttle for cutting a thread extending from a quill in the shuttle, means including a solenoid for causing cutting movement of the knife, means for cutting off a thread-end produced in the fabric by the cutting of the thread at the shuttle, said cutting means being operated by a solenoid, and means for energizing the last-mentioned solenoid at a predetermined time after circuit to the first solenoid has been closed.

6. In a loom having a reciprocating shuttle carrying a quill and having means for inserting successive quills into the shuttle and ejecting depleted quills, a movable knife operative at the shuttle for cutting a thread extending from a quill in the shuttle, electrically-controlled means for causing cutting movement of said knife, a second knife located adjacent to the selvage of the woven fabric in the loom and operative to cut off a thread end caused by the first cutting operation, electrically-controlled means for causing cutting movement of said second knife, a switch for controlling operation of the last-mentioned electrically-controlled means and means for causing closure of said switch at a predetermined time after circuit to the first-mentioned electrically-controlled means is closed.

'7. In a loom having a reciprocating shuttle carrying a quill and having means for inserting successive quills into the shuttle and ejecting depleted quills, a take-up roll on which woven fabric is wound, a cutting device for severing thread ends projectin from the fabric on its way to the take-up roll, said cutting device including a fixed blade and a movable blade, a solenoid for closing the movable blade, a switch for controlling the energizing of the solenoid, means for operating said switch at a predetermined time, said means including gearing driven by the shaft of the take-up roll, means for placing said gearing into and out of mesh, and a solenoid for operatin the last-mentioned means.

FRANZ C. MOSTERTZ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,817,112 Turner Aug. 4, 1931 2,028,560 Northrop Jan. 21, 1936 2,067,761 Hewton Jan. 12, 1937 2,306,287 Turner Dec. 22, 1942 2,319,181 Nichols May 11, 1943 2,341,839 Belforti Feb. 15, 1944 2,528,150 Kronoff Oct. 31, 1950 2,565,405 Stanley Aug. 21, 1951 

